Sustainability evaluation of contrasting milpa systems in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura Tania Carolina Camacho Villa (2023, [Artículo])

The milpa agroecosystem is an intercropping of maize, beans, squash and other crops, developed in Mesoamerica, and its adoption is widely variable across climates and regions. An example of particular interest is the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, which holds highly diverse milpas, drawing on ancestral Mayan knowledge. Traditional milpas have been described as sustainable resource management models, based on long rotations within a slash-and-burn cycle in forest areas. Nevertheless, due to modernization and intensification processes, new variants of the approach have appeared. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sustainability of three milpa systems (traditional, continuous, and mechanized) in four case studies across the Peninsula, with emphasis on food self-sufficiency, social inclusion and adoption of innovations promoted by a development project. The Framework for the Evaluation of Agroecosystems using Indicators (MESMIS, for its Spanish acronym) was used for its flexible, participatory approach. A common group of indicators was developed despite regional differences between study cases, with a high level of farmer participation throughout the iterative process. The results show lower crop yields in traditional systems, but with lower inputs costs and pesticide use. In contrast, continuous milpas had higher value in terms of crop diversity, food security, social inclusion, and innovation adoption. Mechanized milpas had lower weed control costs. Profitability of cash crops and the proportion of forest were high in all systems. Highly adopted innovations across milpa types and study cases included spatial crop arrangement and the use of residues as mulches. However, most innovations are not adapted to local conditions, and do not address climate change. Further, women and youth participation is low, especially in traditional systems.

Milpa Intensification Processes Women and Youth Participation CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SUSTAINABILITY INTERCROPPING FOOD SECURITY INNOVATION SOCIAL INCLUSION AGROECOSYSTEMS CASE STUDIES

Sustainability assessment of vegetables farms in Benin: preliminary results

Sylvanus Odjo (2023, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT VEGETABLES STAPLE FOODS AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS FRUITS FARMERS

Review of Nationally Determined Contributions (NCD) of Vietnam from the perspective of food systems

Tek Sapkota (2023, [Documento de trabajo])

Over the past decades, Vietnam has significantly progressed and has transformed from being a food-insecure nation to one of the world’s leading exporters in food commodities, and from one of the world’s poorest countries to a low-middle-income country. The agriculture sector is dominated by rice and plays a vital role in food security, employment, and foreign exchange. Vietnam submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in 2022 based on the NDC 2020. There is a significant increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, towards the long-term goals identified in Vietnam’s National Climate Change Strategy to 2025, and efforts are being made to fulfil the commitments made at COP26. The Agriculture Sector is the second-largest contributor of GHG emissions in Vietnam, accounting for 89.75 MtCO2eq, which was about 31.6 percent of total emissions in 2014. Rice cultivation is the biggest source of emissions in the agriculture sector, accounting for 49.35% of emissions from agriculture. The total GHG removal from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) in 2014 was -37.54 MtCO2eq, of which the largest part was from the forest land sub-sector (35.61 MtCO2eq), followed by removal from croplands (7.31 MtCO2eq) (MONRE 2019).

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CLIMATE CHANGE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOOD SYSTEMS LAND USE CHANGE AGRICULTURE POLICIES DATA ANALYSIS

Review of Nationally Determined Contributions (NCD) of Colombia from the perspective of food systems

Tek Sapkota (2023, [Documento de trabajo])

Food is a vital component of Colombia's economy. The impact of climate change on agriculture and food security in the country is severe. The effects have resulted in decreased production and in the productivity of agricultural soil. Desertification processes are accelerating and intensifying. Colombia's government formally submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) on December 29, 2020. This paper examines Colombia's NDC from the standpoint of the food system.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CLIMATE CHANGE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOOD SYSTEMS LAND USE CHANGE AGRICULTURE POLICIES DATA ANALYSIS FOOD WASTES

Colaboración y co-creación de conocimiento para una agricultura sostenible

Jelle Van Loon (2021, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS FOOD SECURITY CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

Climate change and agriculture: Adaptation strategies and mitigation opportunities for smallholder farmers in South Asia

Tek Sapkota (2022, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT FOOD SECURITY FOOD SYSTEMS CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE SMALLHOLDERS

Near-real-time welfare and livelihood impacts of an active war: Evidence from Ethiopia

Kibrom  Abay Guush Berhane Jordan Chamberlin Mehari Hiluf Abay (2023, [Artículo])

Ethiopia recently experienced a large-scale war that lasted for more than two years. Using unique High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) data, which span several months before and after the outbreak of the war, this paper provides evidence on the immediate impacts of the conflict on households’ food security. We also assess potential mechanisms and evaluate impacts on proximate outcomes, including on livelihood activities and access to food markets. We use difference-in-differences and two-way fixed effects estimation to compare trends across affected and unaffected regions (households) and before and after the outbreak of the war. Seven months into the conflict, we find that the war was associated with a 37 percentage points increase in the probability of moderate to severe food insecurity. Using the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), we show that exposure to an additional battle leads to a 1 percentage point increase in the probability of moderate or severe food insecurity. The conflict was associated with significant reduction in access to food through supply chain disruptions and by curtailing non-farm livelihood activities. Non-farm and wage related activities were affected the most, whereas farming activities were relatively more resilient. Our estimates, which likely underestimate the true average effects on the population, constitute novel evidence on the near-real-time impacts of large-scale conflict. Our work highlights the potential of HFPS to monitor active and large-scale conflicts, especially in contexts where conventional data sources are not immediately available.

Phone Surveys CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA WAR CONFLICTS FOOD SECURITY LIVELIHOODS

Value chain research and development: The quest for impact

Jason Donovan (2023, [Artículo])

Motivation: For decades, governments, donors, and practitioners have promoted market-based development approaches (MBDA), most recently in the form of value chain development (VCD), to spur economic growth and reduce poverty. Changes in approaches have been shaped by funders, practitioners and researchers in ways that are incompletely appreciated. Purpose: We address the following questions: (1) how have researchers and practitioners shaped discussions on MBDA?; and (2) how has research stimulated practice, and how has practice informed research? We hypothesize that stronger exchange between researchers and practitioners increases the relevance and impact of value chain research and development. Methods and approach: We adopt Downs' (1972) concept of issue-attention cycles, which posits that attention to a particular issue follows a pattern where, first, excitement builds over potential solutions; followed by disenchantment as the inherent complexity, trade-offs, and resources required to solve it become apparent; and consequently attention moves on to a new issue. We review the literature on MBDA to see how far this framing applies. Findings: We identify five cycles of approaches to market-based development over the last 40 or more years: (1) non-traditional agricultural exports; (2) small and medium enterprise development; (3) value chains with a globalization perspective; (4) value chains with an agri-business perspective; and (5) value chain development. The shaping and sequencing of these cycles reflect researchers' tendency to analyse and criticize MBDA, while providing limited guidance on workable improvements; practitioners' reluctance to engage in critical reflection on their programmes; and an institutional and funding environment that encourages new approaches. Policy implications: Future MBDA will benefit from stronger engagement between researchers, practitioners, and funders. Before shifting attention to new concepts and approaches, achievements and failures in previous cycles need to be scrutinized. Evidence-based practice should extend for the length of the issue-attention cycle; preferably it should arrest the cycling of attention. Funders can help by requiring grantees to critically reflect on past action, by providing “safe spaces” for sharing such reflections, and by engaging in joint learning with practitioners and researchers.

Agri-Food Value Chains Issue-Attention Cycles Market-Based Development Approaches CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA VALUE CHAINS PRIVATE SECTOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT SMALLHOLDERS

Microbiological Analysis of the Air in a Popular Fish Processing and Marketing Area

Angélica Sinaí Quintanilla Martínez Lizet Aguirre Güitrón Luis Daniel Espinosa Chaurand MAYRA DIAZ RAMIREZ ALEJANDRO DE JESUS CORTES SANCHEZ (2022, [Artículo])

"Fish are marketed as a food and consumed worldwide. During the production of food, contamination by microorganisms is possible through the air, soil, water, surfaces, food handlers, etc. The air does not have a natural microbial composition, but it is a vehicle for the transmission of microorganisms of economic and health interest because they are associated with food spoilage and human diseases. The objective of this study was the microbiological analysis of the air in an area popular for the processing and marketing of fish products in the city of Tepic Nayarit. Using the passive or sedimentation method to collect microorganisms present in the air, the proportion of aerobic mesophile bacteria, coliform bacteria, fungi and yeast was determined at different locations in the fish processing and marketing area for four weeks. The results indicated that the aerobic mesophiles had the highest counts among all the microbial groups analyzed at the twelve different sampling points during the four weeks of the study; their numbers ranged from 2.44 to 2.95 log CFU/m3/h, followed by molds with counts from 1.44 to 2.75 log CFU/m3/h, yeasts with counts from 0.7 to 2.01 log CFU/m3/h and coliforms with counts that ranged from 0.7 to 1.68 log CFU/m3/h. We determined the proportion of the viable microbiological population present in the air at the different sampling points of the study area; several of these sampling points presented values above those recommended by various agencies around the world. Knowledge of the biological hazards transported through the air is important to establish and reduce the risk to the health of occupants and the contamination pathways of processed and marketed fishery products that may be associated with spoilage and foodborne diseases."

food safety, food quality, air pollution, airborne biohazard, environmental monitoring INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS TECNOLÓGICAS TECNOLOGÍA DE LOS ALIMENTOS HIGIENE DE LOS ALIMENTOS HIGIENE DE LOS ALIMENTOS

Genetic analysis of Vibrio parahaemolyticus O3:K6 strains that have been isolated in Mexico since 1998

CARLOS ABRAHAM GUERRERO RUIZ (2017, [Artículo])

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important human pathogen that has been isolated worldwide from clinical cases, most of which have been associated with seafood consumption. Environmental and clinical toxigenic strains of V. parahaemolyticus that were isolated in Mexico from 1998 to 2012, including those from the only outbreak that has been reported in this country, were characterized genetically to assess the presence of the O3:K6 pandemic clone, and their genetic relationship to strains that are related to the pandemic clonal complex (CC3). Pathogenic tdh+ and tdh+/trh+ strains were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Also, the entire genome of a Mexican O3:K6 strain was sequenced. Most of the strains were tdh/ORF8-positive and corresponded to the O3:K6 serotype. By PFGE and MLST, there was very close genetic relationship between ORF8/O3:K6 strains, and very high genetic diversities from non-pandemic strains. The genetic relationship is very close among O3:K6 strains that were isolated in Mexico and sequences that were available for strains in the CC3, based on the PubMLST database. The whole-genome sequence of CICESE-170 strain had high similarity with that of the reference RIMD 2210633 strain, and harbored 7 pathogenicity islands, including the 4 that denote O3:K6 pandemic strains. These results indicate that pandemic strains that have been isolated in Mexico show very close genetic relationship among them and with those isolated worldwide. © 2017 Guerrero et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Article, bacterial strain, biofouling, controlled study, Crassostrea, food intake, gene sequence, genetic analysis, genetic variability, Japan, Mexican, Mexico, molecular phylogeny, nonhuman, pandemic, pathogenicity island, sea food, serotyping, toxi BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA GENÉTICA GENÉTICA